Northern White Rhinoceros
Animal Biography The Northern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), is a subspecies of white rhino, which used to range over parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Years of widespread poaching and civil war in their home range have devastated the northern white rhino population. As of March 2018, the species is considered extinct in the wild with only 2 post-reproductive individuals, living in the Oj Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Both are female White rhinos are the third largest terrestrial animal, behind only the African and Asian elephants. Generally, northern white rhinos are slightly smaller than their southern cousins. Males are larger than females, weighing about 5,000 pounds (~2,300 kg) and 3750 lbs. (~1,700 kg) respectably. Northern white rhinos have two horns made out of keratin, the same stuff as your fingernails and hair. The front horn is larger than the back, averaging 24 in. (60 cm). Males usually posses shorter, wider horns while females have thinner, longer horns. Rhinos have very poor eyesight, and this can cause them to charge in fear despite a lack of a threat. To make up for their poor eyesight, rhinos have very good hearing and smell, with their olfactory passages being even bigger than their brain. While a northern white rhinos horns are arguably their most recognizable feature, this main defense is also, ironically, the main reason they have been hunted into functional extinction. rhino horns are used for a variety of things, from sheaths for Yemeni daggers, signs of power for royalty, and ingredients for Asian medicines (any medicinal value has yet to be proven, as it is made out of the same material as fingernails and hair). To this day, Vietnam is the number 1 largest market for illegal trading in rhino horns. Even in zoos, it is not uncommon to see rhino horns shaved off to remove the value of the animal from potential threats. In Zoo Tycoon The animal has only been showcased in Zoo Tycoon (Xbox). The only other times that the Northern white rhinoceros has been showcased is through fan-made animals in the previous games. The northern white rhinoceros is unlocked by achieving a zoo fame level of 18. It prefers to live in the Savannah exhibit, but can also tolerate grasslands. It prefers to live with other rhinos, elephants, giraffes, and antelopes. Trivia * The last time northern white rhinos were seen in the wild was 2005. only 4 individuals were recorded, a group of 2 females and a male, and a solitary male. It is believed that these individuals fell victim to poaching * According to some researchers, the northern white rhino and southern white rhino may different enough to be considered as separate species, rather than a subspecies. This idea is not widely accepted in the scientific community. Accepting the northern white rhino as its own species would mean accepting that a species, rather than a subspecies, is functionally extinct. * Despite the fact that only around 7 individual northern white rhinos were alive at the time of the game's release, with no evidence of other individuals in the wild, Zoo Tycoon lists the northern white rhinoceros as “Critically Endangered“ rather than “Extinct in the Wild." * In 2016, scientists began exploring alternative ways to develop northern white rhino embryos, such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. After developing embryos, they would be implanted into female southern white rhinos at the San Diego Zoo. * Another way to bring the rhinos back would be to develop stem cells from skin cells, and then coax those stem cells to become sperm and egg cells. both this method and the one described above are detailed to the right * Some conservationists argue against the use of these methods on the northern white rhino, claiming that it would be a waste of money. These conservationists believe that the time and money being spent on northern white rhinos could be used or Javan or Sumatran rhinos, other critically endangered rhinos with a significantly higher chance of conservation success. Category:Rhinoceroses Category:Herbivores Category:Critically endangered animals Category:Ungulates Category:African animals Category:Zoo Tycoon (Xbox) animals Category:Mammals Category:Animals Category:Animals that can tolerate more than one biome Category:Official animals Category:Odd-toed Ungulates Category:Extinct in the wild